OKC Thunder: SGA not found on second wave of All-Star votes

The OKC Thunder have been a pleasant surprise so far throughout the 2020-21 season.

Even with the fact that they boast a sub-.500 record of 10-14, fans of the franchise have been quite pleased with the efforts Oklahoma City have put forth during the early stages of this year’s campaign.

Though there are a few factors that can be attributed to their successes to date, none have been greater than the impact Shai Gilgeous Alexander has had on this team.

Last season, as second fiddle to Chris Paul, SGA managed to serve as the team’s top scorer (19 points-per-game) as they made their way towards their fifth consecutive postseason.

Now, as the main man in the rotation, the 22-year-old has expanded his game outside of scoring and, in turn, has upped his statistics in numerous categories. On the year, the guard is averaging 22.6 points, 6.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and just shy of a steal per game on 51 percent shooting from the field and 38 percent shooting from deep.

His play has been so impressive, in fact, that, during the first returns, Gilgeous-Alexander found himself receiving the ninth most votes amongst Western Conference guards for the upcoming All-Star game, receiving a combined 99,286 votes.

OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t crack top-10 in ASG votes

Recently, the NBA released the second wave of returns for the illustrious game, and, unfortunately, the OKC Thunder stud wasn’t able to crack the top-10 for the second consecutive week.

Oddly enough, during this wave of results, SGA was nowhere to be found but, instead, we find Los Angeles Lakers fan favorite reserve Alex Caruso and Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson who hasn’t played a lick of basketball since June of 2019.

If the hope is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will make his first All-Star appearance in 20221, perhaps his best shot will be through the coach’s vote.